Sorbetto Recipe

Peel and cook pears

Choose ripe but firm pears (Bosc or Anjou). Peel, core and chop pears into 1-inch pieces until you have about 1 1/4 cups chopped pears (to yield 1 cup purée). Place chopped pears in a small saucepan with 2 tablespoons water. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pears are very soft but not falling apart.

Purée and cool

Transfer cooked pears to a blender or use an immersion blender to purée until completely smooth. If the purée seems coarse, pass it through a fine-mesh sieve. Cool the pear purée to room temperature (about 15 minutes) before using.

In a small saucepan combine granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves completely. Remove from heat and stir in the light corn syrup and salt. Let the syrup cool to warm (about 5 minutes).

In a mixing bowl, combine the cooled sugar syrup with the blood orange juice and lemon juice. Taste for balance — it should be bright and slightly more tart than a finished sorbet since freezing mutes acidity. If too tart, add up to 1 tablespoon more simple syrup (made from equal parts sugar and water) or a teaspoon of additional corn syrup for body.

Whisk in the cooled pear purée until fully incorporated. Chill the combined mixture in the refrigerator until thoroughly cold, about 45–60 minutes (or 20–30 minutes in an ice bath). Chilling improves texture when churning.

Strain the chilled mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any fibrous bits and ensure a silky sorbet. Press gently with a spatula if needed.

Pour the strained mixture into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions, usually 20–30 minutes, until it reaches a soft-serve consistency. If you do not have an ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a shallow metal pan, freeze for 30–40 minutes, then vigorously whisk or break up ice crystals with a fork every 20–30 minutes until smooth and frozen (about 3–4 cycles).

Transfer churned sorbet to a shallow airtight container, press a piece of parchment directly on the surface to prevent ice crystals, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours (for scoopable texture) or up to 4 hours for firmer slices.

Remove sorbet from freezer 5–10 minutes before scooping to soften slightly. Serve scoops in chilled bowls or coupe glasses. Garnish each serving with a thin pear slice, a blood orange segment, and a mint leaf if desired.